(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radio frequency identification (RFID) security reader.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Currently, in various fields such as circulation/distribution, RFID technology is applied, but when using RFID technology, a security problem such as privacy infringement and illegal reproduction arises. Particularly, in an RFID application service requiring a high degree of safety and reliability such as medicine circulation, genuine determination of a costly article, and health care, a security issue arises as an important problem.
In order to solve a security issue in RFID technology, various researches are performed, and one of various researches is to apply security technology to RFID technology. That is, encryption communication is performed in a wireless interval between an RFID reader and an RFID tag.
In order to support encryption communication in a wireless interval between an RFID reader and an RFID tag, it is essentially required to apply an encryption function to the RFID reader. An encryption function of the RFID reader can be embodied by a software security engine and a hardware security engine according to an implementation method.
The RFID reader includes a processor module for protocol processing and interlocking with an upper level network, and by driving a software security engine in the processor module, an encryption function can be easily embodied in the RFID reader. However, the software security engine requires much computing time for encryption. Alternatively, it is difficult to integrate the hardware security engine to the RFID reader, but the hardware security engine can provide a quick reply time.
In general, an RFID reader provides encryption communication in a wireless interval using a software security engine, but much computing time for encryption is required and thus the RFID reader cannot transmit information to an RFID tag within a predetermined time period in a high speed communication mode. Therefore, security technology of an RFID tag that can transmit information to an RFID reader even in a high speed communication mode is requested.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.